


Infinite Loop

by Shimegami



Category: Meitantei Conan | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Reality, Drama, M/M, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 13:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shimegami/pseuds/Shimegami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When one of Kaitou Kid's targets does a lot more than look pretty, Kid and newly-returned Shinichi find themselves facing a dark reality where they don't exist...and the Organization has seeped into everything. ::KaiShin, AU::</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Setting Up The Board

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting this from FF.Net. Because I have this account, might as well use it.
> 
> Warnings: This will end up yaoi/shounen ai, with the pairing Kaito/Shinichi. Those who don't wish to read such things, please use the emergency escape exit located in the "back" button on your browser. This is also an AU, in many meanings of the word, heh. It is also completely un-beta'ed. -jazz hands-
> 
> Disclaimer: As Kaito and Shinichi are not having hot mirror sex in the manga/show, obviously I don't own them. Characters property of Aoyama Gosho.

It had begun, as Shinichi would later remember ruefully, with such an innocuous little thing.

 

In this case, a stupid shiny rock.

 

It had also started, as Shinichi normally had no interest in rocks no matter or sparkling or shiny beyond knowledge needed for cases, at a Kaitou Kid heist – another source of things that Shinichi tended to later regret.

 

It had been a crisp, clear autumn dawn when Kid's next target had been announced, a large chunk of tanzanite that had been named “Night Sky” due to its flawless, exceptionally rich indigo color and a rumor that if one stared at it in certain lighting, it looked like it was filled with stars. Big, flashy, and with a weird legend attached to it, perfect Kid bait.

 

Shinichi, newly-returned to his life after finally taking out the Black Organization and obtaining a cure from Haibara, had had a long debate with himself on whether or not he should go as he munched on a piece of toast at breakfast, reading the paper that announced Kid's intentions.

 

On one hand, Kudou Shinichi had no business at the heist. He had long proclaimed mere thieves below his skills, deeming murder the far more heinous crime to set his sights on. It would be odd for him to show up contrary to his opinions, and from what he remembered of Inspector Nakamori, another “snot-nosed brat thinking he can get Kid before me” would likely infuriate him. The man hadn't been too happy the one time they'd met before he was shrunk, either, at that clock tower. And, of course, Kid heists were the stomping grounds of Hakuba Saguru, whom Shinichi would have to pretend to never have met before – especially as a little seven-year-old with big glasses – and the reserved teen might take it as an affront to his skills.

 

On the other hand, he found himself wanting to go. Kid's heists were...something of an oasis in a desert of murders. Kid's luck seemed to counter his ability to inevitably have a murder occur at his feet (most of the time), and Kid's personal policies of never hurting anyone – besides their pride and dignity – greatly helped in that factor. It was nice to take a break from constant death, to work his mental skills against a brilliant opponent that didn't result in a body bag. Shinichi felt a little guilty, he really shouldn't be chasing a capricious thief when murderers might be roaming free, but he couldn't help but enjoy the brief respites Kid provided.

 

Of course, even if he did go, he wasn't quite sure how the thief would respond. Shinichi was fairly certain – no, make that dead certain – that the thief knew just who he was when he'd been Conan, although he'd never admitted it directly, but the times the thief had covered for him spoke volumes. He had wrested respect from Kid at the Black Pearl heist, and Shinichi wondered if that respect and the almost friendly rivalry between them would remain now that he was taller than the thief's waist.

 

It also irritated him when he realized that made him _worried_. How low had he fallen as Conan, to warrant holding a _criminal's_ respect in such high regard that he was worried about keeping it?

 

Irritated and finished with his toast, Shinichi was no closer to a decision on his attendance and just decided to go to school and think more on it there. He still had vast amounts of make-up tests to do if he wanted to graduated with his age group on time, and if he missed any more school, even that option might be a bust.

 

As fate would have it, his decision was taken out of his own hands by one Suzuki Sonoko. Her fangirling and determination to win Kid's eye hadn't faded one bit, and now that she had Shinichi's skills in easy reach again, she was determined to use them.

 

He was sorely tempted to say just no and forget the heist due to Sonoko's insistence he went, but Ran had turned apologetic but amused eyes on him, asking him if it wouldn't be bad to go “just this once”. And, with considerably more secret amusement, “I'm sure you'll find something to like about it”.

 

Ran. It had been hard, confessing to her, and the week or so afterward she had been too furious to speak with him. Thankfully, she had calmed down, and asked for a second, more detailed explanation, and that day she left considerably more friendly. Even so, it was still awkward sometimes, and Shinichi often had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from tacking on the “-neechan” to her name. Still, she was glad he had told her and that he was back, and he could see it in her smile that she understood. She thought he was an idiot for thinking she needed such protection, but she understood.

 

He had to admit though, that he did regret how their relationship had turned after two long years as Conan. He'd always thought, had this vague future plan in the back of his mind, that one day he'd marry her and they'd have kids and it would be a happy little fairy tale. He'd had the feelings to do it, too, before he'd been shrunk.

 

But after two years of being her pseudo little brother, he found he just couldn't think of her romantically. It was hard to think of someone as a girlfriend when she picked you up and carried you like a doll half the time or scolded you to brush your teeth and be in bed by nine.

 

Ran, too, felt it. No longer came the blushing and stuttered denials from either of them when Sonoko slyly called them husband and wife, just calm corrections – amused exasperation on Ran's end, irritation on Shinichi's. The acted like brother and sister now, and honestly, it was more than Shinichi had hoped for after two years of lying to her. She'd said she'd been able to forgive him, because as Conan he always tried to take care of her, to reassure her Shinichi would be back. It showed he cared, that he wasn't doing it by choice. And Shinichi had felt no surprise when, last week, she'd casually discussed with him whether she should do some casual dating now or wait until college, or even after, and he'd felt no surge of jealousy. They had even chatted about it, Ran mostly scolding Shinichi for his admittedly dismal social life, or rather lack thereof.

 

Shinichi really couldn't help it. He'd always been terrible at making friends, Ran really being the only one he had his age, and trying out a romantic relationship with someone he hadn't known for a considerable period of time was just out of the question, he was too reserved for that. He supposed it's why he'd crushed on Ran at first. The only other girl he'd known well enough was Sonoko, and like _hell_ he would harbor any mere iota of romance for _her_.

 

So, that day, he found himself folding under the look he'd privately come to call the “Ran-neechan Knows Best” look – she did remember how much _Conan_ had been interested in Kid after all – and wound up promising he'd be at the heist, trying to catch the thief if he could.

 

Well, he had wanted to go, anyways.

 

That's how Shinichi found himself on a rooftop, hands shoved into his coat pockets to protect them from the steadily increasing chill of the night air. He'd staked out this spot as the most probable escape route for the thief, so now all he had to do was wait for the show to be over downstairs and he would confront Kid.

 

Of course, he'd be lying if he said he was doing this to actually catch him. If he'd wanted that, he'd be in the building, trying to trap Kid into a small enclosed space with hopefully only one exit. The rooftops were Kid's element, and he'd undoubtedly find a way to get away from Shinichi, advantage of being his regular size again or no. But, in an effort to make himself not feel disgusted with his mind for its reluctance to catch Kid, he reasoned that tonight was just a test run, to see how Kid would react to Kudou Shinichi and if their old relationship and rules still stood. The thief didn't seem to be going anywhere after all – odd that, before his disappearance he'd been much more active in the international stage, now he mostly waited for the jewels to come to him in Japan, which was more proof of Shinichi's niggling theory this wasn't the first Kid – and there would be plenty more opportunities to catch him in the future.

 

Later, Shinichi would kick himself relentlessly for this decision.

 

He was blowing on his hands, idly wondering if he really should go down there and pursue the thief for real before he froze like a popsicle, when he heard the faintest rustle of fabric. The swooshing of it, and few seconds of faint flapping he'd heard, meant that his visitor was wearing something long that blew in the wind, like a trench coat – or a cape.

 

Sure enough, he looked up – a reflex he'd developed during his days as Conan, it was _always_ up with Kid – and there the thief sat, legs dangling over the side of the small maintenance building that Shinichi was currently leaning against, smirking at Shinichi with that ever-amused air.

 

“Well, well, I see my favorite critic has rejoined my game...with a new hand. So glad you decided to join us...Tantei-kun.”

 

That was probably as close as Kaitou Kid would ever get to “Congratulations, welcome back”.

 

Shinichi merely arched one dark eyebrow. Kid didn't seem very surprised, but then again, Shinichi had been back for over a month now, and though he kept a much lower media profile than before due to ingrained paranoia, his return had still been enough to ignite a small media frenzy. That, and if he knew the thief even the tiniest bit – which he hoped he did – Kid probably regularly staked out the homes of the detectives he considered “his”, and hearing that Conan had “gone home” would have been enough to connect the dots.

 

Or, he might very well be surprised and was just hiding it. Kid's act was so flawless, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways.

 

“Aren't you a little worried that the task force is going to catch up with you, and that you're currently making small talk with a detective?” Shinichi asked dryly as Kid idly swung his feet, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, smile still in place.

 

“Oh, don't worry about my loyal followers, they're handling a rather....sticky situation right now--” – Shinichi immediately didn't want to know what said situation entailed – “--and it will take them fifteen minutes at the least to free themselves.” Kid finished, waving a hand airily, before jumping off the building, landing on the ground and shoving his hands in his pockets as he faced Shinichi, hat and monocle hiding his features but his smile still visible.

 

“But I must ask you, Tantei-kun...you claim you're a detective, but you don't seem to be doing a very good job of trying to catch me. Hakuba would have attempted three times by now.”

 

“I'm not much for taking useless odds,” Shinichi shrugged, continuing to lean idly against the wall. Maybe he _would_ make a half hearted attempt at catching the thief, just to surprise the bastard, but he'd probably been standing out here so long his legs were frozen to the ground. “If I'd really wanted to chase you tonight, I wouldn't confront you in an area that so blatantly tips the odds in your favor.”

 

He got the impression that one eyebrow was cocked at that, an amused mirror of Shinichi's earlier expression, but the hat made it impossible to tell. “You never seemed to consider that before. In fact, I remember quite a lot of rooftops in our confrontations.”

 

“No choice. As Conan, I wouldn't be able to direct anybody around, I could only follow and hope to catch you off-guard. If any of your task force had any sense, they would realize routing you off before you got to the target and made a big flashy show is far better than standing around like mannequins until the jewel's in your hand.” Shinichi mildly replied, finally pushing himself off the wall and turning to face Kid directly. Of course, it would take a few heists yet to get anyone to follow his command. Inspector Nakamori had made his opinion on Shinichi very clear, mostly with a long tirade that had a lot of repetitions of “helicopter”, “brat”, and many colorful adjectives describing said words. It had been almost impressive.

 

“Is that so?” Came Kid's even tone, still in that mildly-amused voice, far too young-sounding for a thief of almost twenty years now, even if eight of those were out of commission. And Shinichi had heard enough unintended exclamations from the thief to guess it was his real voice. Soccer balls aimed at delicate parts tended to inspire that reaction.

 

“So, now that we've got that out of the way,” Shinichi decided to continue breezily. Maybe if he kept up this too-casual front with the thief, he'd let his guard down one day. Unlikely, but it was another line to cast into the water in the hopes to land his catch. “Why don't you just hand over the jewel like a good thief and we'll be on our way? You'll just send it back anyways, save yourself the postage. It's freezing up here and I'd like to go home.”

 

“Oh, but it's such a pretty jewel, I would at least like to admire it for a day, wouldn't you agree?” As he spoke, Kid snapped his fingers, and in a puff of smoke the jewel appeared, balanced on one finger. “I don't know if I want to give it up yet.”

 

Shinichi just sighed. “It's a rock. Just do your strange little moon ritual and give it back if it's not what you're looking for. And then we can have a nice stress-free parting and I can go home and sleep in my _warm_ bed.”

 

“My, my, someone's not very chipper tonight. Did you not get enough of that paint thinner you call coffee? I tried what you made for the task force, how you drink it I will never know.” Kid flippantly replied, but moved to hold the gem up to the moon anyways. “And you seem to think I am searching for something. Whatever gave you that impression?”

 

“Different jewel each time, all with a specific set of requirements, always returned. Classic search pattern behavior. I think you even wrote a few times that some weren't what you were looking for. Your earlier heists since your re-emergence fit into the pattern less, but I suppose you picked up your goal along the way.” Shinichi just shrugged as he watched the thief, Kid making an amused hum.

 

“You detectives do love to analyze, don't you...” Kid mused, still staring at the jewel, and Shinichi felt himself relaxing slightly. So far, Kid hadn't changed his demeanor at all from when he'd been Conan, although the mocking was a little less present, more like friendly teasing by now. They had, after all, had been doing this for over a year now.

 

Friendly teasing from a thief. When had his life gotten so weird? Well, he knew the answer to that was in a little red and white pill, but still. Shinichi tried to push down the guilt about being happy that Kid seemed to accept Shinichi, that their little rivalry could continue. He wanted to _catch_ the thief, not play with him.

 

Kid, he noticed, was taking entirely too long staring at that jewel. Usually the strange habit was over in a few seconds – another clue it was a search pattern – so the fact that Kid was still enthralled in it meant that he was either seeing something he looking for, or he was lost in thought.

 

Or he was receiving beams from the mothership about his next instructions to drive human beings insane. Who knew.

 

“See something interesting?” He finally decided to ask, as a full minute passed and Kid seemed riveted like a statue. “Like what you're looking for?”

 

Kid was silent for a moment – if he was ignoring Shinichi he was getting a soccer ball to the back of his head, frozen feet or not – but eventually made another hum. “...Not quite. But I must say, this light show is rather interesting.”

 

“Light show?” Despite himself, Shinichi moved forward in curiosity. Always his curiosity, damn it. Sure enough, dancing in the jewel were bright little silver lines, like if the stars rumored to be seen in the gem all decided to play pachinko in no gravity. It was rather pretty, even if it was making Shinichi stare at it in dumbfounded amazement. Rocks _didn't do that_.

 

He took another step forward to see more clearly, and suddenly the lights started to slowly get brighter, enough to cast dancing silvery lines across the thief's hidden face. A face which suddenly lost its air of perpetual amusement and took on one of confusion and slight worry as he lowered it from the moon.

 

This did not stop the light show. If anything, the lights kept getting brighter, and now Shinichi was staring at the jewel in worry as well. “....Uh. Is it supposed to be doing that, Kid?”

 

“....I must admit, I have no idea.” Kid replied, voice still calm but a frown was starting to pull the corners of his mouth down. “Perhaps I should have researched this particular jewel's legend a bit more--!!”

 

Kid suddenly let out a startled yelp as the jewel suddenly lit up like a lightbulb, bright enough Shinichi couldn't look directly at it. And hot, too, if if the sudden smell of singed silk and Kid's slightly pained voice were any indication.

 

Shinichi found himself reacting on pure instinct as a detective and as someone who'd spent two long years doing his best to protect everyone – _dangerous object, hurting someone, must remove object_ – and found his hand flashing out to grab the jewel. To take it or at least knock it out of Kid's hands, he wasn't sure, but he found his fingers closing around the gem, frigid to his own touch despite what it was doing to Kid's glove.

 

But Kid was a magician on top of being a thief, and was a master at both, and his hands had long been trained to grip like iron if needed, even when wearing slippery silk gloves. He didn't let go of the jewel as Shinichi grabbed and tried to yank it as well.

 

That's when everything went to hell. The jewel suddenly surged, brighter than before, and the light show become multicolored and prismatic on top of that. The distant part of Shinichi's brain not absorbed in panic over a gem that seemed to be going nuclear observed that probably the entire city for a mile around now knew were they were, judging by brightness and intensity. The rest of him continued panicking.

 

“Tantei-kun, let--!!” He distantly heard Kid's voice, seemingly in a rare state of distress, but before Kid could complete his sentence he was cut off and Shinichi knew no more.


	2. Far Far Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinichi wakes up with problems, and Kid is no help.

The first thing Shinichi registered when he came to was that his head and neck were very itchy.

 

He simply laid there for a moment, trying to categorize what he was feeling as he slowly woke up. He wasn't in his bed at home, that was obvious, as he seemed to be lying on grass. That explained the itchiness, grass had always made him itchy.

 

So he was outside, lying in the grass, unsure where he was. For one horrible moment he thought he was reliving the nightmare of turning into Conan, but it was daylight, if the warmth on his face was any indication, and his body didn't hurt anywhere. It felt like lead and and his brain felt like it was running on only one cylinder instead of four, but there was no pain. So, presumably, this was not a nightmare about Conan, and he wasn't in any immediate danger. His hearing seemed to be working fine as well, as all he heard was birds and the faint hum of urban life in the distance.

 

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and then had to close them again at the sunlight. Very bright. After a moment, he managed to open his eyes again and keep them open, slowly becoming accustomed to the light.

 

Apparently, he was lying face down in what seemed like a park. There was a path not too far away. No one around that he could see. Satisfied that it seemed safe to move, he managed to move his limbs – had his legs ever been this heavy? – and sit up.

 

His first method of order was to pat himself down, checking for any injuries that might have led to this state. But there were no obvious wounds, no bleeding or bruises that he could see, and no pain. So perhaps he'd been drugged? It might explain how sluggish he felt. But if he'd been drugged, there was no reason to leave him lying in a park in broad daylight. Perhaps a robbery, but a quick search revealed he still had what he'd carried – his keys, cellphone, case notebook, and wallet, money intact – and unless the target was high-profile, there was no reason to drug him. A mugging would have seemed the better option for any thief targeting a supposedly nameless and harmless teen who couldn't be guaranteed to carry anything worth the effort. It also didn't seem like an assassin or anyone sent by the remnants of the Organization, as then he would be dead and not blinking stupidly at the line of trees in his vision, beyond which he could see buildings rising above. Park had been a correct guess.

 

So, he was sitting in a park, no idea how he got there, and no guess as to why. He frowned, trying to remember what had happened before he passed out. Right, Kid heist, and he'd been with the thief, and then the jewel...

 

Shinichi was startled out of his thoughts by a rustling behind him, and he whirled around to confront the source of the noise. His body was still disorientated, however, and he spent a minute teetering drunkenly before he regained his balance, putting his hand on the ground to keep him steady.

 

Behind him, Kaitou Kid laid in the grass, top hat knocked off and askew beside his head in the grass, and one silk-gloved hand covering his eyes, grimacing. He seemed to be suffering the same effects as Shinichi, so whatever the gem had done to him, it had done to Kid too.

 

The hand not preoccupied with shielding its owner's eyes from the sunlight now groped around, as if looking for something, perhaps his top hat Shinichi just found himself staring at it. It didn't seem right to look up at Kid's face, somehow. He might move his hand unthinkingly, not knowing Shinichi was there, and without his hat and the shadows it cast at night his face would be obvious. The monocle would do little to obscure any features in bright daylight without the hat. And it just...was wrong to find out that way. It should be a fair fight.

 

Shinichi grimaced at himself for thinking in such a way – this was Kid, a criminal, not a game, fair fighting shouldn't even be in consideration right now – but continued watching the searching hand as it moved closer and closer, until it brushed the side of Shinichi's leg.

 

Kid froze for a long moment, apparently now realizing he wasn't alone, and Shinichi was rather surprised it had taken him this long. Usually Kid was always aware of what happened around him, even when he seemed to be confused or disabled. Then again, Shinichi hadn't realized he wasn't alone at first either, and he'd spent two years being so jumpy of other people's presences he now found it almost impossible to stand without his back to a wall. If Kid was feeling anything like Shinichi when he woke up, it was reasonable to assume that even the thief's brilliant mind was also being slow to reboot.

 

The hand disappeared suddenly as Kid sat up in a rush, who then promptly seemed to regret sitting up at all as he wavered slightly. His balance was better than Shinichi's though, so he steadied after a mere second. Shinichi kept his gaze fixed on Kid's tie. It seemed a safe place to look.

 

There was a pause as Kid turned his way, and then a soft rush of air, like someone letting out their breath after holding it, and Shinichi saw Kid relax minutely. It was hard to tell with the thief – the fact Shinichi could tell at all spoke volumes about how disorientated the thief must be – but it was there. Apparently he'd seen Shinichi, and realized he was not surrounded by the police or curious passerby with his face exposed during his unintentional nap. So Kid saw Shinichi as safe. That was an interesting fact, and he filed it away to study later when he could do more than stare dumbly at Kid's tie and when he didn't feel like he was swimming through molasses to think.

 

“So, Tantei-kun,” Kid's voice was remarkably even, if a little breathy. “I admit, when that gem lit up like a disco ball, waking up next to you as we apparently sunbathed in a park was not an outcome I had in my list.” A beat, and then a much more amused tone. “You can look up, you know. As fashionable as my tie is, if I were a woman right now there would be a lot more yelling and possibly a slap.”

 

Shinichi dragged his gaze up, flushing a bit, and he scowled at the thief, who was now grinning at him from under the safety of his top hat He'd apparently put it on, though Shinichi really hadn't seen him move to do it. Stage magicians, urgh.

 

Letting out a huff, Shinichi folded his arms, glaring at the thief. The gem did this to them, and the only reason it could have was because Kid had stolen it from a nice safe display case, and therefore Shinichi decided to place the blame of this strange predicament on the thief's shoulders. “I don't suppose you know _why_ we're here, do you? It's your stupid target that did this.”

 

Kid merely shrugged, the cape fluffing out a bit at his movement. “The only legends I read about it were about the stars in it. Nothing about spontaneous transportation.”

 

Which was just a long-winded way of saying that no, Kid didn't know why either. Shinichi sighed, unfolding his arms to run one hand through his hair in exasperation. He decided to go to the root of the problem. “Take that gem out and let's have a look at it. But if it starts again I'd recommend throwing it.”

 

There was a long, searching silence, and Shinichi suddenly felt his stomach drop. The silence didn't feel intentional, and Kid was _never_ at a loss for words. This had Bad Sign written all over it.

 

“...I don't seem to have it.” Kid stated almost delicately, and Shinichi lifted his head to stare at the thief, who was staring at his singed glove in bemusement. “It's not on me.”

 

“What!?” Shinichi was in disbelief. “You had that thing in a vice grip when it went off, and you're telling me you don't have it?”

 

Kid shrugged again, giving Shinichi an almost apologetic look. “I did have it in my hand when we were...transported, but I don't now. And it's not in my inventory, I checked. Is it on you? You were, after all, holding onto it too, Tantei-kun.”

 

Shinichi scowled at him, but looked around himself on the grass anyways. He'd done a check of his clothes already, it certainly wasn't in his pockets. “No, I don't have it. I don't see it either.”

 

“...That is, admittedly, a problem. I've never failed to return a heist, and losing it will put a damper on maintaining that record.” Kid stated as he suddenly stood up in a fluid motion. He already seemed to have shook off all effects of the...transportation. Shinichi decided to go with Kid's term, it was a nice, safe term and didn't imply anything other than they were moved by something, which they had been.

 

Shinichi sighed, standing up himself. His head was still a bit of a cotton candy mess, but his balance seemed back, at least. He shook his head, feeling disbelief rise again. It was a little hard to believe that a simple gem was the cause of all this, and as his brain got more on track, it started questioning it. A trick of Kid's? Possible, the thief could certainly act all this out, but there wasn't a motivation for that. There was no way Kid would just knock him out and wait until day to lie around in a park, it made no sense, and even Kid wasn't that illogical. He pranked people, yes, but only while his heists were actually happening. There was no reason for him to create this ridiculous situation.

 

He folded his arms again as he frowned, starting to think, not noticing the thief watching him curiously. All right then, maybe someone else besides Kid did it. Maybe Kid had been the target, maybe Shinichi, maybe both. Ugh, too many maybes, and the motivation was missing there as well. The people who would want to do that wouldn't put their captives out in public for a catnap, they'd want to put Kid in jail, or worse, kill the both of them.

 

So the explanation that made the most logical sense was that the gem indeed had done this to them, for reasons unknown. Shinichi wanted to slap himself for thinking it, but he wasn't about to rule it out. Implausible over improbable and all that, and he was more willing to admit there was strange things in the world when he found himself de-aged ten years. Still, weird science was one thing, and magic was another, and Shinichi really didn't want to believe he'd been teleported by _a stupid rock that was now lost_.

 

“...kun? Hey, Tantei-kun! Earth to Kudou!”

 

The voice, and the sound of fingers snapping in front of his face brought Shinichi reeling out of his thoughts. He blinked rapidly at Kid, who was standing in front of him with a smirk, hand still raised in front of Shinichi from his bid to get the detective's attention. “Finished your soul-searching?”

 

Shinichi growled, pushing the hand away from his face, Kid surprisingly letting him. “I was thinking, you moron, I know it's a novel concept to you. And you're the one who communicates with the mothership, not me.”

 

“Mothership?” One eyebrow, barely visible under wide brim and messy bangs, arched upwards at that statement. A smirk dismissed the brief look of bemusement. “Well, if you were thinking such deep thoughts, Tantei-kun, surely you wouldn't mind sharing them?”

 

He glared at the thief, who merely kept smiling back at him. “For your information, I was trying to figure out how we got here. It wasn't you, not even you would go this far for a stupid prank, and its certainly not anyone who wants our hides, because then we'd be dead or you in jail and not here. So that leaves the gem, but I don't know how we could be knocked out for hours and miraculously moved far away from original location by a _fucking rock_!” Okay, so he seemed to be having a minor temper tantrum. It was better than indulging in a breakdown, at least.

 

“...I would ask what rocks ever did to you to deserve such hatred, but we're standing in Exhibit A.” Kid seemed entirely too amused by all this. “Well, while I admit I'm disappointed you would think I wouldn't go to any lengths to complete my art, you are right in that this isn't my doing. And I can't think of a reason why it would be anyone else's, either. So yes, that leaves the gem.”

 

Here the thief laid one finger on his lips, seemingly in thought. “So, it's a magic gem. I'd always had my doubts any of it was real, but some personal experiences opened me up to the idea, and this is certainly more evidence. Of course, this doesn't tell us where it went, or where we are, for that matter. I don't suppose you recognize this park, do you?”

 

Shinichi twitched at the word “magic”. It just felt...wrong to his mind to admit such a thing existed. But dwelling on that wasn't solving their problem, so he shoved it into the back of his mind, determined not to think on it until he collected more evidence – hopefully proving it all an elaborate hoax. Shinichi liked denial. He looked around, cataloging the trees and buildings. It certainly wasn't any park he knew, nor did he recognize any of the buildings. “No, I don't.”

 

“Well, that is a problem.” Kid sighed dramatically. “It is rather difficult to find a lost object when you yourself are lost. We need to find out where we are first, and I'm going to attract far too much attention in this outfit.” At that, Kid snapped his fingers again, disappearing into a cloud of smoke. Shinichi instinctively covered his mouth and nose – one could never be too careful with Kid – but the smoke quickly dissipated, leaving behind Kid, who was now dressed in a nondescript t-shirt and jeans ensemble, baseball cap pulled low over his face and sunglasses in place. The grin didn't change, though. “So, shall we find ourselves, Tantei-kun?”

 

Shinichi glared at him dispassionately. He wasn't sure if had the energy to deal with more of the thief right now. “Why do I have to search with you? I can find my own way home.”

 

Kid held up a hand, ticking off points with his fingers. “Because one, two heads are better than one at this, especially two as good as ours. Two, we cannot be entirely certain we are even in Japan anymore and I don't find the thought of being lost alone in a foreign country appealing, and three, I find it hard to believe you are completely fine with the idea of letting me find the gem by myself. You were so adamant about getting it back on the roof, after all.”

 

Honestly, at this point, Shinichi never wanted to see that hunk of minerals ever again and debated telling Kid so, but he had to grudgingly admit the thief had a point. Being lost in an unknown place all alone didn't sound too fun to him either, and they'd certainly figure it out faster together.

 

Besides, it did feel a little bit like losing if he let Kid just waltz away with the gem. He wanted to believe he still had _some_ standards as a detective, weird camaraderie with Kid or no.

 

Sighing once more and resigning himself to his fate of playing watchdog to the playful thief for at least a little longer, Shinichi dropped his arms.

 

“...So which way are we headed first?”


	3. Not In Kansas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not that they were in Kansas in the first place, but it certainly isn't home.

A minutes later found them walking out of the park and down the nearest street, Kid the very image of nonchalance with his hands in his pockets and smile firmly in place.

 

Kaito's mind, however, was anything but. It was times like these where he was very grateful that a lot of his Poker Face was able to operate on automatic. The rest of him was busily thinking about how to get out of this.

 

He had to admit he'd had a very un-Kid-like panic attack when, in his mental cataloging when he woke up, he realized that a.) he was in his Kid outfit, b.) it was _broad daylight_ and he wasn't wearing his top hat, and c.) he'd realized he wasn't alone. He'd been sure then and there that he'd be surrounded by police, all of him who would now know his identity.

 

But he'd opened his eyes to nothing but empty park, and one Kudou Shinichi who had been staring fixedly at his tie.

 

He couldn't hide the relief he'd felt at that. Tantei-kun, while his most brilliant opponent, was also the one with the strongest adherence to their unspoken “rules” of a Kid heist. Kaito suspected that the detective didn't even really want to catch him anymore – that he came just for the riddles and the chase.

 

Though if the detective himself was aware of it or not, Kaito had no idea.

 

So, thankfully, it was Kudou and not Hakuba or – god forbid – Inspector Nakamori who'd been holding onto the gem with him. Though he doubted either of them would have been able to get that close to him, anyways.

 

He kept the frown that thought drew off his face, but he kept considering it. Indeed, he'd let Kudou get far too close. While he did believe that the detective meant what he said when Kudou said he wasn't try to catch Kid last night – hopefully it was last night and not last _week_ or something – there was the chance that Kudou wouldn't think twice about turning him in if he got his hands on any real facts. It was one thing to know that Kudou hadn't looked at his face – it was another to realize that Kaito himself felt entirely too relaxed in his presence. Playing by the “rules” or not, Kudou was still a detective.

 

He was enough of a master at body language to read his own, and the fact that he hadn't immediately hid the gem away or moved or something when Kudou had grabbed at it when it did its hocus-pocus thing said something. Hell, he'd even let the detective _touch_ him willingly when the other had pushed away his arm in irritation earlier. It was one thing to haul Conan around – as long as he stayed out of the way of the kid's gadgets there was little a seven-year-old could do to unmask him – but Kudou was a whole different kettle of—urgh, wrong metaphor.

 

Kaito shook his head imperceptibly at that thought, looking at Kudou out of the corners of his eyes without the detective noticing – wraparound sunglasses were so useful. The other teen looked considerably more irritated with the situation as a whole, although he'd stopped his mutterings about “stupid thieves who couldn't keep their hands to themselves when they saw something shiny” a while back.

 

Kaito hadn't been entirely honest with the detective earlier – really, when was he? – when he'd listed his points to convince the detective to go along with him. There was another point on that list, and that was one Kaito was keeping to himself. It probably would have driven the detective to say no anyways.

 

He _had_ to figure out where he stood with the detective. He'd grown used to trusting little Conan to help him when their goals matched – and that was kind of degrading right there – but he needed to see if Kudou would hold to the same standards. If not, he'd have to spend a while training himself to not trust the detective and to again treat him like the rest of the masses out to catch him.

 

If he _could_ trust Kudou, well, they could just continue their little game, then. It was so _boring_ at heists without him, after all.

 

So far, everything seemed to be pointing towards option two. The detective hadn't unmasked him, even though he'd woken up earlier than Kaito – had gone out of his way to prevent it, actually – and here they were, walking side by side down an unknown street with minimal convincing on Kaito's part. Kaito couldn't have had a better setup to study the detective if he'd tried.

 

With that sorted out in his head, Kaito decided to start on the other problem – mainly, where the hell they were.

 

None of this scenery looked familiar at all, and that was saying something for a thief that had toured most of the metropolitan Tokyo area in pursuit of one gem or another. If he could get higher, maybe, he could find landmarks, but all the buildings around them seemed to be offices, and it was obviously working hours. It wouldn't have been a problem if Kaito was planning, as it would be a simple matter to disguise as an office worker and make his merry way to the roof, but that was usually after at least a week of observation to find out who he should disguise as and getting the layout of the building. Wandering around an unknown building, even in a disguise, was just asking for trouble.

 

He also had Kudou to worry about, who probably would give him a very disgruntled look, although it would probably be more about Kaito telling him to wait outside than the whole illegal trespassing bit. He'd noticed Kudou's morals tended to suddenly become very flexible whenever there was a more pressing matter. He'd probably insist on going in with Kaito, and then Kaito would have to worry not only about himself but about Kudou who, while his acting skills had grown admirably over the two years he'd been Conan, probably wasn't up for a perfect impersonation just yet. If they had to stay together for more than a day perhaps he'd have to give the detective lessons, and wasn't that a thought.

 

So, rooftop perusal was out of the question, so that left finding a recognizable map or landmark by foot. If he could just _see_ the skyline, he'd be able to orientate himself if they were anywhere in Tokyo, but the buildings were a hindrance in that area too.

 

Absorbed in his thoughts, Kaito almost didn't notice when Kudou stopped abruptly in his tracks. Thankfully he did, as otherwise he would have missed the flash of horror on Kudou's face before it faded into stunned disbelief as he stared at something. That didn't look good.

 

“...Tantei-kun?” He ventured, but Kudou remained silent, looking all for the world as if a unicorn had pranced in front of his eyes. Kaito had to reflexively swallow down his dread as he slowly turned, lining up his gaze with the object holding Kudou's undivided attention. And immediately he almost wished he hadn't.

 

It was a simple street sign, informing them that the busy intersection they were almost upon was the crossing of Haido 2nd Street and Fujimi Road. It would be completely ordinary, except for one little fact.

 

This intersection was only two blocks away from the scene of the ill-fated heist last night. Kaito had crossed it possibly over twenty times at least, in his preparations. And he knew damn well that there was no other intersection in Tokyo with those street names, but all the buildings were horribly unfamiliar.

 

Distantly, he began looking at the buildings, noting the street numbers as Poker Face was fighting a losing battle against showing his surprise and fear on his face. The numbers he recognized too, and he vaguely noted, with growing horror, that he could calculate the area of the park as it would be in his memories of this area...

 

...And put it right at where the building his heist was at was supposed to be standing.

 

Kaito just stood there, dumbfounded. Was this some sort of horrible prank? Had the city decided that it would repay him for his pranks against the police force and play one on Kaitou Kid by changing out road signs? But he knew that couldn't be possible, especially as he just knew that if he shifted like so and glanced through the gaps in the buildings he would see Tokyo Tower, the top visible through the gap and mockingly telling Kaito that this was no prank.

 

Somehow, someway, this entire city area – and possibly even more – had been uprooted and replaced by another, with everyone carrying on as normal. Or...

 

Or he and Kudou were the uprooted ones, placed somewhere else – like a different world. A twisted mirror, having all the trappings of their home but terribly, terribly different.

 

Kaito found himself swallowing, and he took a deep breath, schooling his features into, if not amusement, at least blank apathy. He couldn't lose it in the middle of the street, especially as Kudou hadn't seemed to move from his frozen state as Kaito had processed and fought through his own shock. He turned to look back at the detective, who was still staring at the sign, though the disbelief had turned into a lost look that made the detective look years younger and uncomfortably like his shrunken self.

 

Kaito shook himself slightly. Even if this was getting weirder and weirder by the second, they couldn't be standing here like a pair of particularly unimaginative mimes. And he was sure Kudou wouldn't appreciate just how vulnerable he was looking right now, so Kaito had better snap the detective out of it.

 

He reached out and placed his hand on Kudou's shoulder, shaking it as he attempted to get the detective's attention. It took several shakes and repetitions of his nickname to do so, and Kudou finally tore his gaze away from the street sign to blink owlishly at Kaito. Kaito smiled at him, hoping it didn't look as strained as it felt.

 

“Well....we know where we are now, right?”


	4. Broken Looking-Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is wrong.

A short while after the rather horrifying discovery found Shinichi and Kid in the Beika Library.

 

After Kid had brought him out of his horror, Shinichi had been stricken with an urge to know what was different, and to desperately search for any proof that this could still be an elaborate prank. Damn his detective curiosity, it got him into so much trouble, but he still had to _know_.

 

So, he'd turned for the train station, and Kid had fallen into step behind him with cat-quiet feet, not saying anything. Shinichi half-suspected that Kid was thankful that at least Shinichi seemed to have a goal in mind, though the thief was never without a plan. Whatever the reason, the thief was content to follow him in silence.

 

Then again, he'd probably never dealt with supposedly jumping dimensions or something before. Not that Shinichi had, but thankfully the whole Conan incident had given him just enough exposure to weird things that he was able to shove everything into the back of his head so he could just think about it _later_. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism. For now, he focused on finding out exactly what was different with this “world”, and his mind jumped on the distraction eagerly.

 

There was a minor internal debate in the thankfully-unmoved train station – did their money even work in this dimension, should they use it even if it _did_? – but Shinichi decided that perhaps once was all right, as once they were in Beika they were in his territory...hopefully. His house probably didn't exist anymore, but he _wasn't thinking about that_.

 

Thankfully the library hadn't moved or changed much in the....transportation. Shinichi made a beeline for the computers, figuring them the safest and quickest way to learn about everything.

 

He'd fumbled a bit with the unfamiliar operating system at first, as it wasn't any he'd had seen before, and with Agasa as his next-door neighbor, that was saying a lot. It proved to be rather user-friendly, though, and Shinichi soon found himself clicking through web searches as Kid sat behind him, hands seemingly shuffling a card deck on autopilot.

 

A sort of morbid curiosity hit Shinichi, and he found himself typing in his own name and hitting the search button. It would make things more difficult if he ran into himself...as long as this really was a....dimension jump or something and not just a prank. Shinichi really, really hoped it was still a prank.

 

His brow furrowed as the results popped up. _Nothing_ together. Instead, it brought up listings about his father's books, though most Shinichi had never heard of. Apparently “Shinichi” was a character that popped up often in his books. Had even his father's creative visions changed in this world? That was a cold thought. But it seemed that the internet had never heard of high school detective Kudou Shinichi, which was odd. Even one online newspaper that had his name would return as a hit, and as more relevant than his father's books. He paused, then searched his mother. Maybe he'd get some more information there.

 

That proved even more fruitless than his name. “Kudou” and “Yukiko” had absolutely no connection to each other at all, and that was really odd, as neither of his parents had ever made a secret of their marriage...

 

His hands froze over the keyboard. Unless...  
  


Slowly he typed in Fujimine Yukiko and hit the search button. _That_ returned tons of results, all raving about the actress, and even information about her newest movie, premiering next week. But his mother had retired from acting when he was born...

 

Shinichi sat there for a moment, trying to process that. Admittedly, he'd been prepared for himself to not exist, or even be a girl or something else twisted. But a reality where his parents had never married and, according to the internet, had probably never even _met_ was far more disconcerting. Shinichi could deal with not existing in an abstract fashion, but the idea of his parents not being together was...foreign. Sure, his mom threw a temper tantrum every once in a while and threatened to leave his dad for more than a month, but Shinichi hadn't ever worried about that being real. She always went back, after all, and always seemed the happier for it, at least until Shinichi had to endure another ranting phone call about the newest stupid stunt his dad pulled. But his parents not being his parents was an idea that might as well have been on the moon for how foreign it seemed.

 

A creak brought him out of his thoughts, and he glanced over his shoulder. Kid was now leaning forward, arms propped on the back of Shinichi's chair as he read over Shinichi's shoulder. Shinichi had a moment's thought to knock the thief off for invading his private space like that, but he doubted it would do much good. The idiot probably didn't even realize it as rude, he was weird like that.

 

Shinichi blinked, and on a half-formed idea, he typed in the thief's name for a search. He felt more than heard Kid shifting again, attention obviously peaked. He wanted to know as much Shinichi, probably.

 

Kaitou Kid, at least, existed in this world too, if the many hits were anything to go off of. Shinichi clicked the first link – a comprehensive list of heists on a fan site, it seemed – and he felt his eyebrows raising. The list was...extensive. Far more heists were listed than Shinichi remembered being attributed to Kid, indeed, even more than his old heists and the ones from his revival combined.

 

A quick scroll through the list told why – this universe's Kid had never had that eight-year-long retirement. He'd been active from his appearance twenty years ago to his most recent heist of last month, and there weren't any intervals longer than three months. This Kid had been...busy, it seemed.

 

Shinichi almost missed the small intake of breath behind him, only hearing it since the thief seemed plastered to his shoulder as he read avidly. Apparently this meant something to Kid, although Shinichi could really only wildly speculate based on what he knew. If there wasn't any long disappearance, he could guess that all of these heists were by the same person, unlike his “world”. So that meant that this Kid probably wasn't the one behind him, who reached out and tapped Shinichi's hand on the mouse rather impatiently when Shinichi didn't scroll down fast enough for the thief's liking. He obediently moved the page down a decent way as he thought.

 

So, if this was the same Kid, the original Kid, that meant that whatever happened to him hadn't happened here, if Shinichi had to guess. The Kid he knew, after all, was far too young. Kid was a master of disguise, true, but there were small things no one would be able to fake. He was almost never out of the country, which made no sense for a thief that formerly toured the world with some regularity unless one realized that he possibly didn't have the ability to travel so freely, which hinted he was someone famous, or underage, possibly both. He was far too nimble for his supposed age, as even the most well-trained athletes wouldn't move like they were twenty years younger when they were supposedly ten years _older_. After all, Kid was supposedly twenty years older now. Considering he'd been international since the beginning, that hinted at him being at least eighteen then, which made the most conservative estimate of his age at almost forty. If one factored in the experience and skills probably needed to begin life as a magician thief unless trained since birth, that probably added on quite a bit. And no matter how good Kid was good at changing his voice, there was no way to hide the youthful tone in his voice and his speech patterns when he slipped out of the formal speech. Not to mention that in all the visual media and speculation he could get on the first Kid, he estimated the current Kid at several inches shorter and about thirty pounds _lighter_ than the older version. He'd gained some of that back during the two years they'd known each other, but there was still a discrepancy. The new Kid was just built _differently_ than the first; he'd maybe get the height, but he was too thin and wiry, he'd never get the broadness the other had if Shinichi had any guess. All in all, everything Shinichi knew about observing people – and that was a lot, thank you very much, no detective would get far after all if they couldn't give an immediate and accurate age, height, and weight reading at first glance – screamed that the current Kid probably hadn't even been _born_ when Kaitou Kid first appeared on the world stage.

 

Another tap on his hand brought him out of his musings, and Shinichi had to stop himself from making an irritated noise as he scrolled down. If Shinichi's speculations were correct – _if_ – then the first Kid had been someone important to this one. After all, one just didn't put themselves on the most wanted list in at least twenty countries for any old stranger off the street. So Kid deserved his time to read, too. He could at least ask nicely, though.

 

Suddenly Kid shifted, bringing both arms around Shinichi to assume command of the keyboard and mouse – Shinichi couldn't help the startled squeak and tensing, that was _too_ close damn it, did Kid have _no_ idea of personal space!? – and the thief went back to the search engine. He typed out something rapidly – “current famous magicians”...? – then paused, apparently realizing that yes, Shinichi was still watching, and was still a detective. His hand hovered over the enter key indecisively.

 

Well, Shinichi had been able to search, Kid should be able to, too. His detective instincts were yelling at him, but Shinichi didn't really want to break that weird trust Kid seemed to have in him. It just wouldn't be fair, after all, and hell, he didn't even exist in this world anymore, and Kid possibly didn't either. That would make a real show if he tried to turn him in here – “Yes, officer, I promise this man is Kid even if he doesn't exist in your records, and I promise I'm a trustworthy individual even though I don't exist, either” – and even if he did it when they got back – when not if – what sane officer would accept proof gotten in, apparently, another dimension? Shinichi might as well walk to the mental hospital himself, it would save the trouble of being dragged there by claiming such wild things.

 

So Shinichi let out an irritated breath and closed his eyes, turning his head slightly away so Kid got the message. Damn it, Kid had better remember this. Shinichi was not letting him get away from _everything_ scotch free.

 

There was a moment longer of pause for the thief, before there was the slightest puff of air – deliberate, Kid was letting him know he understood the intentions – and Kid shifted minutely There was a strike of the enter key, and then a long silence.

 

Shinichi resisted the urge to open his eyes to check on the thief. He had felt Kid tense – hard not to, if there hadn't been a chair in the way Kid would be practically wrapped around him – and he could only assume that Kid had run into something shocking. But he'd promised himself, so he limited himself to only jostling the thief a bit with his shoulder. Right to search or no, he really didn't need this position. He wasn't used to having people so close.

 

There was a sharp breath, like Kid started breathing again, before there was a few clicking sounds and then as abruptly as he had leaned forward, he suddenly sat back. The almost-chill of the departure had Shinichi open his eyes automatically. Thankfully Kid had apparently exited out of his search, as all that met Shinichi's eyes was the blank page of the search engine's main site.

 

Slightly concerned for the thief, Shinichi turned in his seat to look at him, frowning slightly. Kid didn't acknowledge him for a moment, face an impassive mask behind his sunglasses, before he seemed to shake himself a little and grinned disarmingly at Shinichi.

 

“So, Tantei-kun, have we found what we're looking for?”

 

“I could ask you the same question.” Shinichi replied blandly, before sighing, running a hand through his hair as he thought. “...I...this can't be a prank, can it? Hundreds of webpages of information don't change overnight.”

 

“No they don't.” The thief murmured in agreement, and Shinichi looked at him sharply. What had he seen that seemed to shock him so much...? Kid shook his head a bit. “...Which means, we might need to plan to be here more than a day, don't you think? From what I read about you, you might get weird looks introducing yourself, especially if you tried to go home.”

 

Shinichi had been trying not to think about that. It felt wrong to think about his parents not being together. It was strange, such a simple little decision and Shinichi wouldn't have existed...right, not thinking about it. But Kid was right. If this really was...real...they had no choice. They had to find that jewel and find their way home, and unless it was sitting on the library steps with a bright neon sign, that would probably take a while.

 

Shinichi frowned and crossed his arms. “Where, though? We, or at least I, don't exist here, and since we have no ID here...”

 

“Well, I could probably get a bit of money by street-preforming, but it wouldn't be much unless I went all out, and that would probably draw too much attention.” Kid drawled as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. “Which leaves us with three options, really...steal money and use it, live like hobos, or get fake identification to land something more permanent. None of which are very appealing, but honestly, we seem to have no other options.”

 

Shinichi rather felt like he'd just swallowed a lemon, but he sighed and nodded anyways. He'd realized the same things. It burned to know that just to get home, he'd probably be doing some highly illegal things. He really shouldn't have gone to that stupid heist. “Fake identification it is. I'm not stealing anything directly, and I am _not_ sleeping on some porch. Won't be too different from what I had to do as Conan.” He sighed again, running a hand through his hair. “It figures, one hour with you and already I'm committing crimes. This whole situation is your fault.”

 

“I'll have you know I'm a very upstanding citizen.” Kid put a hand on his chest in mock affront. “I would never consider such things either unless it was a pressing situation such as now.”

 

Shinichi snorted. “Says the person with over a hundred counts of trespassing, breaking and entering, and grand larceny to his name. Not to mention all the other infractions you've racked up. I'm pretty sure Inspector Nakamori has a write-up of every indignity he's suffered at your hands ready to be charged against you for obstructing the justice, too.”

 

“You have too little faith in me, Tantei-kun.” Was Kid _pouting_? No, there was the grin. “And I'll remind you that it's technically only theft when the intent is to deprive the owner of the object permanently. I merely borrow for a little while.”

 

“I would love to meet the god of a lawyer who could actually pull that definition off in court.” Shinichi stated dryly, before sighing again and giving the computer a contemplative look. It was no Windows, but a few hours with it should give him plenty of time to crack how it worked. He silently thanked next-door eccentric neighbors who insisted on teaching young boys how to do basic hacking. “Well, let's add forgery to your charges. But we probably shouldn't be doing this stuff here. Where should we go until then?”

 

There was a brief pause, and Shinichi looked at Kid in curiosity. The thief was staring at the computer, face neutrally blank again. What had upset him this time? “...Kid?”

 

Kid paused, and then grinned disarmingly at Shinichi, who returned it with his best “I'm not buying it” look, honed with long practice from his parents. The thief kept grinning, undisturbed. Shinichi suddenly had a horrible feeling he knew exactly where. “ _No way._ ”

 

“No one would suspect us for it, as you technically don't exist.”

 

“It probably doesn't exist, either!”

 

“You can't say that. It didn't depend on you existing, did it?”

 

“Well no, but still...what if he's home!?”

 

“Didn't you read, Tantei-kun? He's in a book signing in Australia.”

 

Shinichi groaned as the thief kept grinning at him and thumped his head against the back of the chair. He couldn't believe they were doing this.


End file.
